Apparatus for cutting metal



April 39, 1949.

NO. I- SHAVING UNlT NO.2-$HAVING mmc. FIELD 2,399,229

APPARATUS CUTTING METAL Original Filed Deb. 4, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 2o-TURNS v IB TURNS FEEDlNG UNI T INVENTOR I 10857 Field 9 BY Q 6 M, v

/ATI'ORNEYS April 30, 1946. c. FIELD APPARATUS FOR CUTTING METALOriginal Fiied Dec. 4, 1942 s Sfxeets-Sheet 2 .523 QD-OZZS INVENTORCl'osy Field BY 6 aw/y w? ATI'ORN EY April30,1946. FIELD 2,399,220

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING METAL Original Filed Dec. 4, 1942 3 SheetS SheQQ 3INVENTOR Crosy Field. BY I ATTORN EYS Patented Apr. 30, 1946 APPARATUSFOR CUTTING METAL Crosby Field, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor -to BrilloManufacturing Company, 1110., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New Yorka Original application December 4, 1942, Serial No. 467,869. Divided andthis application June 19, 1943, Serial No. 491,471 a 8 Claims.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 467,869, filedDecember 4, 1942, and the present invention is shown as embodied in aplant for grooving metal, preferably steel, in such manner that themetal cut from the grooves shall constitute tough, elastic, long-staplefilaments or fibers, of extremely minute but relatively uniform sectionand presenting sharp edges. Many of the novel features of the inventioninvolve specific adaptations for this specific purpose. It will befound, however, that certain features of the invention are applicablefor cut ting operations other than grooving, or for operating on metalsother than steel or for purposes other than producing the specificproduct above described.

The specific material which I prefer to employ is steel wire or rodmaterial of circular crosssection such as is commonly supplied in bundlecoils. Many features, even-very specific features, of the method areapplicable to steel or other material in other forms, as, forinstance,wires or rods or bands of metal that are of triangular, rectangular,polygonal or other desired crosssection. For the preferred use and forproducing the preferred fibrous or wool-like material from cylindricaldrawn wire or rods of bendable diameter, the invention involves closecooperative relation of many novel features and arrange ments.

In the present commercial art some of the machines in general use forthe above purposesconsist essentially of a stationary bed over which awire is drawn by a power-driven drum at one end of the bed. As the wireis drawn over the dominant position in the industry. They embody aseries of wire carrying, rotating, power-driven tractor wheels or drumswhich relieve the wire of much of its tension and which make the bedfriction available for applying traction to the wire. In thisarrangement the surfaces of the tractor wheels opposite each of theknives can afford all,

or a large part, of the traction necessary to feed the wire against thecutting resistance of the knives. Consequently the number of knives thatcan be used in series all working successively on the same wire can beincreased to almost any desired extent without danger of breaking thewire because .there is no corresponding increase of end tractionrequired thereupon.

In the machines of the tractor wheel type the traction of the windingreel where the scrap from the machines is wound may be reduced to thatrequired to keepthe wire in close frictional engagement with, the lasttractor wheel bed, and this has preferably been regulated in the past byan automatic constant tension drive either through a friction clutch ora slipping belt or by electrical motors with an electrical controlsystem such as'described in Patent No. 1,608,481.

With a single large tractor wheel from twenty to sixty knives have beenused and in such cases it becomes practical to have one-directionaloperation. An important feature in multiplying the number of knives on agiven tractor Wheel lay in combining the wheel with means for keepingthe wire at the proper tension so that as the number of knives wasincreased the wire would not slip with respect to the wheel.

In tractor wheel systems in the past it has been the practice to use arelatively large number of tractor wheels, each with a limited number ofknives, in reducing the wire to scrap in a single pass through theplant. It has been discovered by Crosby Field and Gerald G. Toole,however, that the number of wheels heretofore regarded as desirablemaybe reduced, with a consequent reduction in operating costs, byproviding friction boosters in connection with each of the tractorwheels. They discovered that the commonly accepted formulae for theincrease of friction with the linear amount of surface coveredby a wirewrapped around a wheel did not apply for more than one turn of wire whenthe outer surfaces of the wire were subjected to such friction as isobtained by cutting layers off of these turns.v In order, therefore, toenable the increase of the numberof knives cutting, it was discoveredthat this lack of friction might be more than compensated for by theinsertion in the system of a power-driven sheave on which .no cuttingwas done. In order to accomplish this, mechanisms described and claimedin the copending application of Crosby Field and Gerald C. Toole,.SerialNo. 467,868, filed December 4, 1942, were developed and the sheaves ofthese mechanisms are referred to hereinafter as capstans. For a completedisclosure of their operation and control,

reference should be made to said copending application.

An important feature of the present invention lies in the provision of anovel and improved feeding unit for the plant. Heretofore it has beenfound necessary to wind in a predetermined manner the wire that to befed into the plant so that it will unwind properly from the feed drumwithout twisting or kinking. This former method of feeding a plant hasthe disadvantage not only of requiring time in the preliminary windingof the feed drum but also in the fact was being led off of the drum hada tendency to bury that loop in the underlying layers of wound wire,thus disrupting the feeding operation.

The present invention includes a novel combination between a feed drum,a'pair of snubber rolls and a pair of feeding capstans, whereby the wirmay be fed into the plant from a bundle, without the preliminary step ofwinding, or whereby it may be fed into the p ant from a wound drum, .ashas previously been done, but with the tension of the wire going throughthe plant relieved from the feed drum by means of the interveningsnubber rolls and feed capstans, as willbe described.

In commercial use in a plant embodying the present invention, theinvention aforementioned Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along theline I l-l4 of Figure 2 in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 4 is a schematic representation of the electrical system used inthe feeding unit shown in Figure 2.

Referring to Figures la and 1?), there is schematically presented themanner in which a wire to be cut into wool is led through the plant. Atthe left-hand side of Figure 1 a feed drum 302 carrying a coil of wireis shown. Wire, indicated by W, is led from feed drum 302 through a pairof snubber rolls 304 and 305 and is wrapped twenty times around a pairof feeding capstans 30B and 308. 'The feed drum is represented asmounted on the same shaft with a brake generator 310. One of the snubberrolls is mounted on the sam shaft with a brak generator 3l2 and oneofthe feeding capstans is mounted on the same fifteen times around atractor wheel I0 and an of Crosby Field andiGerald C. Toole, and theinvention of the parentcase of which this is a division, it has beenfound that the'novel arrangements mak possible the starting of the plantunder full load, and that the plant can be continuously run under agreater rate of output with fewer operators than has heretofore beenpossible. The plant efficiency has further been increased because thevarious improvements have greatly reduced time lost throughwirebreakage.

It is an objeetof the present invention to provide methods and means ofthe character described, having to a notable extent the characteristicsandcapabilities aboveset forth. A further object is the provision ofapparatus for cutting metal wool-from a wire in an improved manner; Yetanother object is the provision of a feeding mechanism wherebypreliminary wire Winding steps may be. eliminated. Another object is theprovision in a feeding mechanism for a plant of thetype above referredto of means for maintaining proper tension upon the wire as it goes intothe first shaving unit, while at the same time preventing" increasedtension on the wire as it leaves the feed drum which is supplying wireto the plant. A still further object is the provision of simplifiedsupporting structures in shaving units of the types above referred to.An additional object is the provision of an improved and practicalmethod of feeding a plant of the character described. Other objects willbe in part pointed out as the description proceeds and will in partbecome apparent therefrom.

In the accompanying drawings, in which an exemplary embodiment forattaining the above objectives is set forth and in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout the various views:

Figures 1a and 1b are in combination a schematic representation of aplant embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the feeding unit for the plant;

idler wheel ll. After thus passing around the tractor wheel and idlerwheel, the wire is wrapped three times around an idler l2 and idlerwheel I I, as illustrated, and then passes once around adancer roll l3and a dancer roll idler l4 before oing to the next shaving unit. A motor16 is illustrated on a shaft which drives tractor wheel 10. Idler l2 anddancer roll idler M are loosely and independently mounted for rotationabout the same axis. Dancer roll I3 is carried by a dancer roll arm l5pivotally mounted at its lower end. 7

' The wire from shaving unit No. 1 goes to shaving unit No. 2, where itpasses twenty times around a tractor wheel 20 and a capstan 2|.Thereafter it passes three times around capstan 2| and an idler 22, andtime around a dancer roll 23and a dancer rollidler 24 before going tothe next shaving unit. Tractor wheel 20 is indicated as driven by amotor26 and capstan 2| is in dicated as driven by a'motor 21. Idler 22and dancer roll idler 24 are loosely and independently mounted forrotation about the same axis. Dancer roll 23 is carried by a dancer rollarm 25 pivotally mounted at its lower end. 7

No. 3 shaving unit and No. 4 shaving unit are identical with No. 2shaving unit, as illustrated. From No. 4 shaving unit the wire W passesbeneath a wind-up idler 5| to a wind-up drum 50 driven by a motor. 56.The manner, details and mechanisms by which these various shaving unitsmay be operated and controlled are set forth in the copendingapplication of Crosby Field and Gerald G. Toole, above-mentioned.

The feeding unit Figure 2 shows a perspective view of some of the novelfeatures of the invention as it applies to the feeding unit. The wire isshownbeing led from the bottom of feed drum 302, beneath a guide pulley303, under snubber roll 304 and around feeding capstans 306 and 308.Generator 3l2 is shown engageable through a clutch 3l3 with a shaft 3 l5upon which snubber roll 304 is mounted. A generator 3 appears engageablethrough a clutch, not shown, .with a reducing gear 3l6. Gear 3l6 isengageable through a clutch 3|! with a shaft upon which feeding capstan306 is 76 mounted, A generator 3 I 0, shown in Figure, la, is

indicated as driven by the same shaft "which carries feeding drum .302.In practice, a train of gears, not shown, is included in the drivebetween drum .302 and generator 3 I 0.

A pressure roller 320 carried by a rollerarm 322 is provided to engagethe surface of the wire as it passes around feeding capstan 306, tomaintain proper relationship of the various .loops and to eliminatecrossing of the wire. Arm 322 is keyed :to aqshaft 324 mounted inconventional bearings and shaft 324 is provided with a spring arm 326biased by a tension spring 328 to maintain pressure between roller 320and feeding capstan 306. For a like purpose, pressure roller 330 isarranged on the under sideiof feeding capstan 308 and is held inengagement therewith by aspring 336 acting upon a spring arm-334 whichcarries a stud shaft 332 upon which pressure roller 330 is mounted.

Figure 3 shows a section through the snubber roll mechanism along theline I4-I4 of Figure 2. Snubber roll 1304 is provided with an annulargroove 30] and snubber roll 305 is provided with an annular groove 309(see Figure 3 Roll 304 is carried upon a shaft 3|5 and roll 305 iscarried upon a shaft3l8. Shaft 315 is mounted in fixed bearings and haskeyed to its right-hand end a gear 340. Shaft 318 is mounted in movablebearings 344 and 345 and has keyed to its right-hand end 'a gear 342. IThe limits within which shaft 3| 8 is movable with respect to shaft 315are not such as to allow gears 340 and 342 to be moved out of mesh. Thewire, as it goes from the feed drumto the feeding capstans, passesthrough the opening formed between the snubber rolls by grooves 301 and309 and the extent to which the wireis gripped frictionally by thesnubber rolls depends upon the setting of screws 346 and 347, which loadsprings 348 and 349 to adjust the position of movable bearings 344 and345.

If the plant is to be fed from a previously wound drum, such as drum302, set screws 346 and 341 are positioned so that there is nofrictional engagement between snubber rolls 304 and- 305 upon the wireand guide pulley 303 serves to direct the wire from drum 302 to feedingcapstans 306 and 308. With this arrangement, generator 3l4 is adjusted,in a manner to be described, to act as a brake upon feeding capstan 306and to provide a considerable portion of the resistance to rotationwhich is necessary in order to maintain proper tension in the wirebetween the feeding unit and the No. 1 shaving unit. Generator 3l0 onthe shaft of feed drum 302 is adjusted to provide the remaining brakingpower required and to keep slack from accumulating between the feed drumand the feeding capstans. This relatively light tension between the feeddrum and feeding capstans is not sufiicient to cause the loop of wirebeing led from the feed drum to bury itself in the underlying layers ofwound wire upon the drum.

If it is desired to feed the plant from bundle coils, rather than from apreviously wound drum, snubber rolls 304 and 305 are adjusted to engagethe wire between grooves 301 and 309 and generator 3L2 is adjusted, in amanner to be described, to act as a brake through clutch 3 I3 and shaft3 l 5 upon the snubber rolls. Under such conditions generator 3I2 andgenerator 3l4 both act as brakes upon the wire as it is being drawn intothe plant by the No. 1 shaving unit. The snubber rolls serve to feed thewire from the bundle coils onto the feeding capstans and the feedingcapstans, in turn, serve to supply wire properly into the plant.

quired to turn the armature and erator to an immediate stop.

The feeding unit electrical system Figure 4; shows a schematicrepresentation of the electrical circuits by which the generators of.

the feeding unit are controlled. The electrical systems of thesegenerators are identical and only the system for generator 3| 0 will bedescribed. Corresponding parts in the system for generator 312 areindicated by the same reference numerals as used in the description ofthe circuits of generator 3l0, with'the addition of an 7a. Similarly,corresponding parts in the circuits of generator '3l'4 are indicated bycorresponding reference numerals, with the addition of a b.

Current is supplied to'the field of generator 3 l 0 from lines 364 and366 under the control of a variable resistance 368. The armature ofgenerator 310 is rotated by the wire being pulled into the plant and thecurrent generated is connected into the leads of'a double throw switch312 which,

when the generator is acting as a brake, is closed contactor closes toform a dead short circuit across the leads to the armature of generator3l0, which short circuit multiplies the torque re- Sometimes it isdesirable to run generator 3l0 in the reverse direction as a motor as,for example, to rewind slack after repairing a wire break, in which casedouble throw switch 312 is closed across armature lines 360 and 362 tosupply current to the armature of generator 3l0 under the control of avariable resistance 31.0. The armature is indicated protected by anoverload responsive device L and a no-load responsive device N.

An overload in the circuit operates through responsive device L to tripthe main switch which supplies current to all motors in the plant and tobring the plant toan immediate stop, as described in said copendingapplication of Crosby Field and Gerald C. Toole.- A break anywhere inthe wire results in a loss of torque on the armature, whereupon no-loadresponsive device N serves to stop the entire plant in like manner. whenthe plant is being fed from a previously wound drum, generator 3l4 isadjusted through variable resistance 31% to eifect most of the brakingpower upon the wire. At such times generator 3I2 is idle and generator 3l 0 supplies sufiicient braking power to keep slack from accumulatingbetween the feed drum and the feeding capstans. If the plant is to befed from bundle coils, generator 3l0 is idle and the braking upon thewire is effected by adjustment to the armature circuits of generators3I2 and 3M. Regardless of which way'the plant is being fed, an overloadin any armature, or a loss of torque upon any armature, serves to stopthe entire plant. v

The invention has been illustrated and described in the form which ittakes in one plant now in operation. The embodiment illustrated anddescribed, as pointed out above,'has made the production of metal woolpractical in a more compact plant than any known to the prior art,requiring fewer operators and capable of being run with a higher yieldand under better control.

As many embodiments may be made of the above invention and as manychanges may be brings the gen-' made in the embodiment'above set forth;it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth orshown inthe accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and notin 2, limiting sense o I claim:

1. In combination with a machinefor makin metal shavings from wireincluding a longitudi nally grooved cutting bed for supporting the wireanda plurality of floating grooving knives operating along said bed:wire guiding andf'eeding means in advance of the entrance of themachine, said advance guiding and feeding mean including a feed drum, apairiof snubb'er rolls, a feeding capstan, an adjustable brake for'saidfeed drum, an adjustable bra-ke'for said snubber rolls and an adjustablebrake for said feeding capstan, said feeddrum, snubber rolls, andfeeding capstan being arranged in tandem in the order named, wherebywire may be fed into said machine either from the feed drum or from abundle coil.

2. In combination with a machine for making metal shavings from wireincluding a longitudinally grooved cutting bed for supporting the wireand a plurality of floating grooving knives operating along said bed:wire guiding and feeding means in advance of the entrance of themachine, said advance guiding and feeding means including a feed drum, apair of snubber rolls, a'feeding capstan, anadjustable' brake. for saidfeed drum, an adjustable brake for'said snubber rolls,

an adjustable brake for said feeding capstan and e mean for adjustingthe relationshinone to the other, of said pair of snubber rolls, saidfeed drum, snubber rolls, and feeding capstan being arranged in tandemin the order named.

3. The structure set forth in claim 2 further characterized by the factthat said adjustable brakes comprise electric generators operable acrossvariable resistances.

4. The structure set forth in claim 2 further characterized by the factthat said adjustable brakes comprise electric generators operable acrossvariable resistances or, selectively, across a source of electric power,whereby any selected generator may be driven as a motor.

-5."Thestructure set forthi in claimz further characterized by the factthat said wire guiding and feeding means includes responsive means forbringing said wire guiding and feeding means to I an even" and immediatestop upon a loss in tension upon the wire being fed.

6; The structure set orth in claim 2 further characterized by the factthat said adjustable brakes rcomprise electric generators operableacross variable resistances and in combination with overload responsivemeans for bringing said guiding andfeeding .unit to an immediate andeven stop upon an overload in any generator.

7; In combination with a machine for making metalshavingsfrom wireincluding a longitudi-' nally grooved cutting. bed for supporting thewire and a plurality of floating grooving knives oper-V ating along saidbed: wire guiding and feeding means in advance of the entrance of themachine, said advance guiding and feeding means including a pair ofsnubber rolls adjustably mounted'to grip'the wire between them and apair of motor driven feeding capstans, saidpmeans additionally includingan electric brake means connected to the snubber rolls to act as a brakeagainst turning of said rolls, whereby the wire may be conditionedforpassage through the machine without preliminary winding on a reel.

. 8; In combination with a machine for making metal shavingsfrom wireincluding a longitucli nally grooved cutting bed for supporting the wireand a plurality of floating grooving knives operating along said bed:Wire guiding and feeding means in advance of the entrance of themachine, said advance guiding andfeeding means including a snubber rollfollowed bya feeding capstan, said means additionally including anelectric brake means connected to the snubber roll to act as a brakeagainst turning of said roll and an electric motor means connected tothe feeding capstan to act as a drive for turning said capstan, wherebywire to be shaved may be adjustably tensioned by the feeding capstanagainst the action of the snubber roll and thus conditioned as apreliminary to entrance into the machine.

I CROSBY FIELD.

